Casually disposing with his Christian name, superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold has finally cast aside all false modesty and done what everyone wanted him to do - stepped out from behind the turntable and made an artist album of his own. Unfortunately, Bunkka is so packed with guest stars that it's impossible to catch much more than a glimpse of the DJ's own personality. There's plenty of highlights here, most notably a menacing performance turn from So Solid Crew's Asher D and a simmering duet between Tricky and Nelly Furtado. Elsewhere, Ice Cube turns in a typically smooth day at the office and veteran writer Hunter S Thompson contributes a spoken rant about his old nemesis Richard Nixon. Other performances from the likes of Perry Farrell are curiously lifeless, however, and Oakenfold's backing tracks rarely rise above the ordinary, giving the album as a whole a distinct air of hit-and-miss. Bunkka is very far from being a disaster, but it feels like something of a missed opportunity all the same.
